Page 196 of Ravaged Soul

“Move!” Gael roars.

“Fuck you!” I yell back.

Blistering pain explodes in the back of my head where Gael loses patience, smacking the butt of his gun into my skull. I trip and stumble, collapsing against one of the empty tables.

“Enough!” Gael stomps his foot in an uncontrollable fit. “Come quietly or unconscious. Your choice.”

“Do what you’d like to me, Gael. I won’t ever follow orders again. I won’t be quiet. You can whip every last bit of unmarked skin I have left, and I still won’t bow to you!”

Feet kick my legs out, sending me plummeting to the cheap, scratchy carpet. I kick against Gael’s weight sinking on top of me, one hand capturing my hair while the other flips me over to slap me in the face.

“You disobedientputa! Stop fighting me!”

“You taught me to fight!”

“Then I’ll pluck those memories from your brain with my bare fingers and start fresh!”

He clobbers me with another brutally strong slap, this one carrying more force. My teeth clack together, causing fresh blood to seep across my tongue. I blink past tears to laugh in Gael’s rapidly darkening face.

“Nolan’s gone because that’s what rats do on a sinking ship. He knows your time is up and he left you behind for the wolves to tear apart, Antonio.”

“You willnotcall me that!”

“Once you’re dead, it won’t matter what you’re called.” I hawk blood in his face. “I’m going to erase your stain from this planet until everyone forgets that you ever existed.”

His skin is nearing purple, turning the handsome, suave businessman into an enraged demon who would frighten even a grown man. It’s fitting. The true Gael finally shows himself to get his hands dirty for the first time.

The next punch makes my ears ring. I gasp through shockwaves of pain, trying to find air that seems determined to evade me. Another series of strikes hit my kidneys and rib cage, worsening my ability to breathe.

“Do I need to march back there and kill the girl myself?” Gael threatens.

“Leave h-her alone!”

“Then learn your place. It’ll be little hardship for me to cover her purchase fee just for the pleasure of bleeding her dry in front of you.”

“No!”

Muscles locked tight, I abruptly smash my head forward to crack into his. A shit move that hurts me as much as it hurts him,but the effect is tremendous. Gael hisses and slumps, now bent low over me.

I twist my head to sink my teeth into his earlobe. Cartilage battles against me, causing him to howl like a wounded lion caught in a trap. With my teeth sunk deeply into his skin, I jerk my head to create a delightful, skin-popping tear.

“Argh!” Gael’s hands fly to his damaged ear.

Blood sprays across my mouth and face, pouring from the deep wound. My fist sails into the side of his head, making his screams amplify. Then I deliver another. Over and over. Crunching bone and splitting skin to create a picture of human destruction.

Shoving Gael’s heft off me, I scurry upright to continue my attack. He’s writhing on the carpet in a frenzied attempt to locate his gun. But it skidded just out of reach, leaving him with no choice but to fight me bare handed.

“Ember.”

The light baritone freezes me, overcome with surprise at his use of my actual name. I halt halfway to Gael’s body to look up at Gunnar. His hand is mid-air, clasping a familiar hunting knife by the blade to offer me the handle.

“I…” His voice seizes, prompting him to hesitate. “You were right. I was that boy in the cage. And I know exactly how it felt.”

Gunnar waves the blade, urging me to take it.

“You sold us out,” I manage through gulps of air.

His shoulder lifts in his usual shrug. “I’ll pay the price for that. Please make this right.”